Travelling to Hilton hotels to visit Walt Disney World Florida

[johnb667]

Hi everyone,

I’m planning a trip to Orlando for my disabled son’s 18th birthday and I want to make it special by staying at a Hilton property maybe for five days and then doing another seven days in one of the Walt Disney World hotels I was looking at any Hilton’s that are near near Disney World.
As a Diamond member, I know I get the fifth night free if I put with points, but I’m not familiar with the perks at Hilton hotels in the U.S. Could anyone share insights on the breakfast situation and the executive lounges? Specifically, I’m looking at options in the Lake Buena Vista area.

What kind of offerings can I expect in terms of food and facilities? Any tips or recommendations for making the most of our stay would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance!

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[Blair Waldorf Salad]

As Diamond you won’t get free breakfast (2 people per room) per se. You will get a USD credit to use each day on any F&B spend. Most people put it towards breakfast. But bear in mind breakfasts in the US can be very pricey plus add on the expected tip even though it was a buffet 🙄

Where your Hilton has a club lounge, as a Diamond 2 people in your room will get lounge access. If it serves a breakfast then you’re sorted.

Another useful Hilton perk is you won’t be charged a resort fee on any night you pay with points.

Orlando and Lake BV won’t be rich pickings lounge-wise though. It’s just not the demographic. I don’t think any of the 3 Hiltons in the LBV area have a lounge. Overall the standard within the Disney site is good and all 3 hotels are decent. The Hilton Buena Vista Palace used to be a different brand and was very much the leading (non-Disney) on-site hotel.

Both Hiltons are closer to the Disney Springs area for say breakfasting outside the hotel. However don’t discount the Doubletree, closer to the Crossroads shops and eateries opposite the LBV site. Prices at Crossroads will be lower than Disney Springs.

I’m not sure why you’d be looking to move hotels after night 5 though. All 3 Hiltons on the LBV site have free shuttle buses to the Disney parks. And are close enough to the I-4 that goes north to the Universal parks. The Disney hotels are deeper inside the massive Disney property and so you’re just adding more time to journeys out of the LBV area.

If you’re attracted by the magic hours and other benefits of the Disney hotels, perhaps check if they offer similar to parties with a disabled member.

[John]

Hliton’s website says there are no properties in Florida with a lounge, but I don’t believe that is true. However, the most you’ll get in any US lounge is some soft drinks and small packaged snacks.

[Michael C]

We stayed in both the Buena Vista Palace and the Lake Buena Vista last year.
Although the former looked snazzier and more fun (for your 10-yr old), we all ended
up preferring the Lake Buena Vista. Still has nice pools, great location, but MUCH
quieter for sleeping. We had an OK price, so used the 2 x $15 per day towards breakfast.
Launderette/small arcade.
As others have said, an easy shuttle, but just as easy Lyft, etc., if you don’t fancy sticking
to timetables.
I don’t think we personally would stay inside the resort, as a short evening stroll to Disney
Village from the Hilton was a daily highlight for us, plus easy access to malls/downtown, etc.
Of course, for other families, staying inside would be a highlight!!
Just to say the whole trip was very relaxed and easy – you’ll have a fab time!
PS Having said all that, for us, the Kennedy Space Station blew all of Disney out of the water!

[The Savage Squirrel]

+1 re Kennedy for anyone interested.

OP, don’t get too hung up on hotels or staying on the property even if this was your first vision when planning. Orlando is the land of the villa and relative oversupply vs hotels means that a large (to us UK residents) villa with several bedrooms within a gated community (so still with a resort standard swimming complex, food options, etc) is often the same cost or even can be cheaper than a single room within a hotel. This may (depending on your son’s needs of course) be a better option, allowing comfortable and fun relaxing non-park days.

Hiring a car if one can fit your needs gives you much greater freedom to come and go as you please, and brings further out communities (so better facilities at lower cost) into play, and makes visiting things like Kennedy a doddle.

[Wally1976]

We went to Florida 2 years ago and stayed half at the Home2Suites near Universal and half at Doubletree Suites near Disney Springs.

The first, had shuttles to Universal. Breakfast was included but was very ultra processed and served on polystyrene plates etc.

The second was walking distance to Disney Springs. Nice breakfast but ended up quite expensive as the credit we got as Gold members barely touched the sides. Neither hotels had lounges as far as I know. The included Disney shuttles worked well for us but remember being up early lots!

We used Lyft and Uber for other journeys.

We were originally going to have a villa but you then need a car and have to pay the exorbitant parking charges.

Enjoy!

[dougzz99]

Blair Waldorf Salad wrote:

Both Hiltons are closer to the Disney Springs area for say breakfasting outside the hotel. However don’t discount the Doubletree, closer to the Crossroads shops and eateries opposite the LBV site. Prices at Crossroads will be lower than Disney Springs.

Crossroads long gone. Demolished for the new I4 junction in that location.

[Blair Waldorf Salad]

@dougzz99 😢 RIP Crossroads

[janed9388]

We stayed in Hilton Lake Buena Vista Palace a couple of years ago, used points on the 5 for 4 deal and we really liked it. We had a room in the ‘Island’ section which wasn’t noisy at all as reported above, Trip advisor reviews of that section weren’t great but our room was fine and I liked the open lobby areas in each landing with plants and sofa’s. That area is also closer to the pool and the pool bar. The $30 credit was useful, and bought pastries & drinks at the convenience store on site so we could have breakfast on the way to the parks. Didn’t use the free shuttle as Uber was too convenient and minimised waiting around.

Wasn’t that fussed on Disney springs, it seemed pricey, was a faff getting a table if you hadn’t pre-booked and I didn’t want to plan to that degree in-case we were still in the parks.

[The real Swiss Tony]

Note that if you do stay offsite, it can take a good while to get to the actual parks. If a villa says 10 mins to Disney, it’s probably 15 mins from the front gate of the complex to the nearest entry onto Disney property, so add 10 mins at one end and 20 at the other, then a bit for traffic and queueing to get into the parking lot and you’re a whole lot closer in terms of timings.

So if you do want to do other parks/Kennedy space centre, I’d pick a hotel that works best for that, then move over to on-site Disney, where all the parks are just a bus ride (or boat or monorail) away. Disney Springs is in my book a “one and done” job. Crowded, overpriced, mostly the chain stores that you would find anywhere else with only a mild sprinkling of Disney.